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How-To Geek

If you’re looking for an electronics project with a bit of holiday cheer, this clever POV Christmas tree combines LEDs, motors, and a simple vision hack to create a glowing Christmas tree.

POV (or Persistence Of Vision) hacks rely on your visual circuit’s lag time. By taking advantage of that lag POV displays can create the illusion of shapes and words where there are none. In the case of this Christmas tree hack a spinning set of LED lights creates the illusion of a Christmas tree when, in reality, there is just a few LEDs suspended in space by wire.

It’s not a beginner level project by any means but it is a great way to practice surface mounting electronics and polish up your PCB making skills. Hit up the link below for the full tutorial.

Jason Fitzpatrick is a warranty-voiding DIYer who spends his days cracking opening cases and wrestling with code so you don't have to. If it can be modded, optimized, repurposed, or torn apart for fun he's interested (and probably already at the workbench taking it apart). You can follow him on Twitter if you'd like.

Published 11/14/11

DID YOU KNOW?

The deepest point of the Mediterranean Sea is the Calypso Deep, located south-west of Pylos, Greece with a maximum depth of 17,280 feet (5,267 meters)–the extreme depth can be attributed to the subduction of the African Plate sliding under the Aegean Sea Plate, which creates the Hellenic Trench.